(1) Union Des Associations Européennes De Football v (1) British Telecommunications Plc
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Arnold |
| Judgment Date | 21 December 2017 |
| Neutral Citation | [2017] EWHC 3414 (Ch) |
| Court | Chancery Division |
| Docket Number | Case No: IL-2017-000052 |
| Date | 21 December 2017 |
[2017] EWHC 3414 (Ch)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LIST (CHANCERY DIVISION)
Rolls Buildings
Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1NL
Mr Justice Arnold
Case No: IL-2017-000052
Janni Riordan (instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna Olswang LLP) for the filed written submission on behalf of the Claimant
The Defendants were not represented
The application was considered on paper
The Claimant (“UEFA”) is the governing body for association football in Europe. Its members consist of 55 national football associations. It is the organiser of a number of European football competitions including the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League (together, “the UEFA Competitions”). The UEFA Competitions are very popular with television viewers in the UK: this year's Champions League final attracted several million viewers.
UEFA's evidence establishes that it owns the copyright in television broadcasts of all matches in the UEFA Competitions, and in films (particularly replays), artistic works and musical works which are incorporated within those broadcasts.
The Defendants are the six main retail internet service providers (“ISPs”) in the United Kingdom. The First Defendant (“BT”) has since 2013 been the exclusive licensee of the rights to broadcast and transmit the UEFA Competitions in the UK. The rights are very valuable: BT currently pays approximately £360 million each season for these rights together with the rights in respect of the UEFA Super Cup.
By this claim UEFA seeks an injunction against the Defendants pursuant to section 97A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (“the 1988 Act”), which implements Article 8(3) of European Parliament and Council Directive 2001/29/EC of 22 May 2001 on the harmonisation of certain aspects of copyright and related rights in the information society (“the Information Society Directive”), requiring the Defendants to take measures to block, or at least impede, access by their customers to streaming servers which deliver infringing live streams of UEFA Competition matches to UK consumers.
The order which UEFA seeks is very similar to the order which I made in Football Association Premier League Ltd v British Telecommunications plc [2017] EWHC 1877 (Ch), (“ FAPL v BT II”) following the earlier order in Football Association Premier League Ltd v British Telecommunications plc [2017] EWHC 480 (Ch), [2017] ECC 17 (“ FAPL v BT I”), and the application is supported by similar evidence to that relied upon by FAPL in those cases. The order will take effect on 13 February 2018 and last until 26 May 2018.
All of the Defendants except for the Fifth Defendant (“Talk...
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Union Des Associations Europeennes De Football v Eircom Ltd T/A Eir
...favour of this Plaintiff (UEFA) and others in Union Des Associations Européennes de Football v British Telecommunications Plc & Ors [2017] EWHC 3414 (Ch) (Arnold J.). Like orders have also been made for boxing matches: Matchroom Boxing Ltd & Anor v British Telecommunications Plc & Ors [20......
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Union Des Associations Européennes De Football v British Telecommunications Plc
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